(Not Applicable)
(Not Applicable)
1. Technical Field
This invention relates to point of sale systems and more particularly to a method and apparatus for assisting the recall of price and item information in a point of sale system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Present retail point of sale (POS) systems can incorporate an optical scanner for scanning universal product (UPC) codes incorporated on the packaging of retail goods. UPC codes typically include a Universal Product Identification Number supplied by the Uniform Code Council. Manufacturers can obtain Universal Product Identification Numbers for their retail goods by applying for the same with the Uniform Code Council. Several organizations, for instance 1-800-Database and GE Information Systems, supply databases containing a listing of all Universal Product Identification Numbers. POS systems incorporate these databases in a translation table for translating Universal Product Identification Numbers to both item and price information pertaining to a retail good.
Specifically, a retail sales cashier using a POS system can scan the UPC code contained on the packaging of a retail good thereby obtaining a Universal Product Identification Number for the retail good. Subsequently, the POS system can cross-reference a translation table with the scanned Universal Product Identification Number in order to obtain price and item information for the scanned retail good. Consequently, POS systems incorporating UPC code scanning technology can reduce the time necessary to process a check-out event during which a store check-out cashier tabulates retail goods selected for purchase by a consumer. Advantageously, by using a UPC code scanning POS system, the cashier need not manually input into the POS system price and item information for each retail good selected for purchase by the consumer.
Sometimes, during a check-out event involving present retail POS systems, the translation table may not contain price and item information corresponding to a to scanned Universal Product Identification Number. In particular, the retail good may be a new product line for which price information has not been supplied to the POS system. Alternatively, the retail good can be a sale item having a price which differs from the price listed in the translation table.
Similarly, the Universal Product Identification Number may not exist in the translation table. For example, on occasion, a retail good may not be included in a retail store""s regular inventory. In each case, the check-out cashier must manually investigate the price of the unidentified retail good. Subsequently, the cashier must manually key the price into the POS system. Also, occasionally a commercially supplied UPC database may not include a Universal Product Identification Number corresponding to the scanned UPC bar code. In that case, the store cashier must manually input into the POS system not only the price of the retail good, but also the retail good""s internal item number.
Present solutions to the above-identified shortcomings of present POS systems include the cashier asking a co-worker to perform a xe2x80x9cprice checkxe2x80x9d by investigating the price of other, identically labeled products. In consequence of the price check, waiting customers can be further delayed. Hence, present POS systems lack a method for storing and recalling cashier-entered information pertaining to retail goods, for example price and department.
A method for assisting the recall of retail good information in a point of sale (POS) system can comprise scanning an identifier associated with a retail good; searching a translation table for retail good information corresponding to the scanned identifier; and, if the retail good information cannot be found in the translation table in the searching step, displaying a list of retail good information previously assigned to the scanned identifier. In a preferred embodiment, the retail good information can be a purchase price corresponding to the retail good.
Additionally, the inventive method can comprise the steps of accepting a selection of retail good information in the list; and, assigning the selected retail good information to the retail good associated with the scanned identifier. In response to the selection of retail good information included in the list, the POS system can increment a counter for counting all instances of all selections of the selected retail good information. After assigning the retail good information to the scanned identifier, the POS system can add the assigned retail good information to a transaction record.
If retail good information in the list is not selected, the POS system can accept manually entered retail good information for the scanned identifier. Subsequently, the POS system can both assign the manually entered retail good information to the retail good associated with the scanned identifier and add the manually entered retail good information to the list of retail good information. However, before assigning the manually entered retail good information to the retail good, the POS system can compare the manually entered retail good information with all retail good information contained in the list. If the manually entered retail good information is a duplicate of retail good information in the list, the POS system can assign the duplicate retail good information to the scanned identifier. Moreover, the POS system can increment the counter corresponding to the duplicate retail good information.
A specific implementation of the inventive method can include a POS system for assisting the recall of retail price information. A POS system for assisting the recall of retail price information can comprise: a POS terminal for processing the sale of retail goods in a retail store; a scanner for scanning retail good identifiers affixed to the retail goods; a translation table for correlating the scanned retail good identifiers with corresponding prices; a manually entered price list database for storing prices not contained in the translation table; and, a graphical user interface (GUI) in the POS terminal for displaying a list of the stored prices contained in the manually entered price list database. The POS system can further comprise both means for accepting a manually entered price corresponding to a scanned retail good identifier; and, means for storing the manually entered price in the manually entered price list database.
The manually entered price list database of the POS system can comprise a plurality of records, each record containing a retail good identifier, a retail price, and a counter for counting each time a cashier assigns the retail price to the scanned retail good identifier. Furthermore, each record can further contain a cashier identifier for identifying a cashier who first assigns the retail price to the retail good identifier. Finally, each record can contain a date field for indicating a date when the cashier first assigns the retail price to the retail good identifier.
The GUI preferably comprises a list of manually entered prices corresponding to scanned retail good identifiers and a button for manually entering a price not included in the list of manually entered prices to be associated with the scanned retail good identifier. The list of manually entered prices can comprise a plurality of list items, each list item comprising: a retail price; a product description; a cashier name identifying a cashier who first manually entered the retail price; a date of entry indicating when the cashier first manually entered the retail price; and, a counter for counting each time a cashier assigns the retail price to a scanned retail good.